You and Jeff dated for three years after he walked you home when you got sick in high school. The relationship ended for one simple reason: Jeff never wanted to take you all the way home. He always claimed it was because your house was inside a narrow alley and he drove a car, but you both knew that wasn’t the truth. He just wasn’t ready for a relationship serious enough to meet your family.

Now, years later, you work as a cashier at a supermarket.

One day, you spotted Jeff shopping with another girl. He paid at a different register, and from the way they acted together, you assumed she was his new girlfriend. The next afternoon, when the store was nearly empty and most of your coworkers were on break, Jeff walked straight to your register.

He just carrying a bottle of coke. Stopping in front of you, he gave an awkward smile.

“I came here on purpose,” he admitted. “I saw you yesterday, but I didn’t get the chance to say hi.”